Photo by a concerned Penangite
A concerned Penangite spotted this banner at a private clinic along Burma Road, openly advertising a vaccine against “women’s cancer”. She called up the clinic and was told the vaccine would be delivered in three doses over a six-month period, RM250 each dose, total RM750. The vaccine is Gardasil (supposed to be a cervical cancer vaccine) and girls as young as nine could receive the vaccine, said the person at the other end of the line.
The Penang government’s decision to take over the ferry service is a good move especially given the poor performance of Penang Port in running the service.
Penang Port could have done better. It’s a pity that it was unable or unwilling to revamp and expand the ferry service (including introducing new routes) for reasons best known to itself. There was no reason for such a poor service, evidence of which could be seen in the long queues of motorists on the island heading to the mainland at night. There was no shortage of demand, and yet the service was largely neglected.
Rev Michael Thoo has released a press state statement from the office of the Penang Bishop. Here is the statement in full:
In response to recent and current newspaper reports on the “eviction exercise” of’ 14 houses within the grounds of the Church of St. Francis Xavier, Penang Road, 10000 Georgetown, Penang the church wishes to clarify as follows:
– There are 14 semi-concrete pre-war houses within the grounds of the Church of St. Francis, Penang Road, George Town, Penang. The houses are old and have no architectural value.
– Other buildings on the land are the St Joseph’s Home for orphans and children from broken homes, the Learning Centre for children with learning disabilities and the “Lighthouse” which provides free food for the needy and school buildings. These social welfare and charitable organisations are run and/or supported by the church.
Citizen journalists Jimmy Leow and Lilian Chan have managed to get the Penang Bishop’s views on the controversy over the eviction letters issued to villagers residing on the church’s land at St Francis Xavier’s Church along Penang Road.
Just a few quick observations arising from the Bishop’s comments:
It doesn’t look as if the Church has carried out a proper survey of the affected households to establish the residents’ socio-economic status or needs before they were issued eviction letters. The question is, why the urgency to issue lawyer’s letters and evict the residents before carrying out such a survey of their needs, especially those of the senior citizens? Shouldn’t the process have involved extensive consultations with the affected residents, the setting up of arbitration panels and the soliciting of views from lay Catholics – rather than a top-down approach of resorting to lawyer’s letters?
Five more days.
That’s the remaining time the residents of Kampong Buah Pala in Gelugor have, following a Court of Appeal decision on 11 May giving them 30 days to vacate their homes.
The village, known as High Chaparral because of its history of cattle rearing, is at the centre of a controversial land dispute with luxury apartment developers.
Nasharudin has retained the Pas deputy presidency. He collected 480 votes, Husam Musa polled 281 while Mat Sabu won 261.
It looks as if the “progressive” or modernist votes have been split between Husam and Mat Sabu, who together collected 541 votes (54 per cent of votes cast) compared to Nasharudin’s 480 votes.
In comparison, Nizar easily topped the contest for committee positions with 85 per cent of the votes.
Face to face: Mat Sabu (left) with Nasharudin – Photo courtesy of Harakah Daily
Polling for the Pas party elections is now underway as 1,044 delegates cast their ballots. The party elections committee is expected to announce all the official results tomorrow morning.
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The scene outside the Ipoh police station this morning – Photos by Jong
1021: The police have told those arrested that they will have to wait longer to find out their fate.
“They told us that investigations have not yet been completed,” says blogger Zorro, one of those arrested who had gone to the police station in Ipoh. “Why didn’t they tell us that last night?”
In a much-awaited speech in Cairo just now directed largely at the Muslim world, Obama has vowed to:
He has also pledged to work for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate. He has called for the Palestinians to “abandon violence” – without issuing a similar call to the Israelis. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements, he adds – but what about existing settlements?